Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 13)

[Fozzz 152]

51 minutes ago, The People’s Elbow said:

Prove it. Make your case. Back up these hot takes with some rationale. 
 

Bet you won’t. 

Because these systems are employed by highly successive coaches. Do you think Urban would struggle to win with this system?  You think Orlando is the only defensive coach using a tite front?

[Fozzz 152]

2 hours ago, Not a cat said:

So erudite.  Debating you has been an honor.  I wish you well, worthy foe.

Neither a cat nor brighter than a dim bulb.

[Fozzz 152]

2 hours ago, Texasrocks said:

Seriously? If you consistently fail to execute, it's either a scheme problem or a talent problem. Against Baylor, ISU, and TCU, you can't blame a lack of talent. The defense looks much better since Orlando stopped all the crazy blitzing and we seem to be playing a lot more man coverage. We couldn't hold up in coverage long enough for the blitzers to reach the quarterback. You could call that poor execution, but after it happens over and over it indicates a problem with the play calls. It's gotten better, but we've still got issues. On Baylor's first touchdown drive, they consistently overloaded the left side and we didn't adjust. The ran it 6 straight times, I believe all to the left. I'm not sure why they stopped running it to the left because we didn't stop it. You can't blame a corner for not holding the edge when they have 2 tight ends and a pulling lineman outflanking the d-line and linebackers. At one point they threw a wide receiver screen where we effectively had one DB covering two receivers and what I assume was another DB tasked with covering a receiver and setting the edge. With the wide receivers out near the sideline, there's no way he can do both effectively. Those are play calls targeting the structure of our defense. Similarly, we haven't been able to run the last two weeks and our offense hasn't done much outside of two-minute drills. Yes, we played a couple of good defenses, but the other teams know what we're going to run based on alignment. Last week, one of the only things we did well was outlet passes to the running backs. Baylor was prepared for that and our only effective response was Sam running for his life. As the season goes on, a larger percentage of our offensive success comes from broken plays - the low snap that Sam completed for a first down, the near safety, the long run at the end of the half. That indicates a problem with our scheme.

Use paragraphs psycho. 

[Valmy77 13,629]

I am always a bit skeptical about scheme and play calling being the reason for our team's struggles just because those things have always been blamed. I am not saying those things may not, in fact, be the problem. But surely there are other things to winning football besides just scheme and play calling.

Bill Walsh once lost 49-3 in the playoffs and last I checked he was pretty good at both of those things.

[D_Goose 506]

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Nope.  Would be an ADA violation.  Now, if he does some absurd or dangerous shit while boiled as an owl, that's possibly a different story.

Absurd and dangerous, you say?

[PilotsError 2,343]

Having fozzz on ignore is worthless if you assholes are going to keep quoting him

[LTtxfan 50,040]

11 hours ago, immamac said:

Can it be that he does lots of fucking illegal drugs that will void his guaranteed contract. 

 

Time to hire a great PI to gather enough dirt on Herman to break his contract?

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 50,040]

https://247sports.com/college/texas/LongFormArticle/College-football-stats-scores-takeaways-rankings-Week-13-139085709/#139085709_1

CFB Overtime: Winners, losers from Week 13

ByCHRIS HUMMER 

3. THE TEXAS LONGHORNS WERE A FRAUD

Less than a year ago Texas went to New Orleans and hit Georgia in the mouth for a Sugar Bowl win. That victory sparked a rousing proclamation by Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger: “We’re baaaaack.” Flash forward 11 months, and the Longhorns are decidedly not back following a 24-10 loss to No. 14 Baylor (10-1). It’s not exactly a surprise to see the Bears handle the Longhorns at home. That’s also the issue. Texas isn’t supposed to lose to Baylor. Texas isn’t even supposed to play Baylor close. Welcome to Texas’ new reality. 

There are a myriad of things wrong with the Longhorns. Injuries are a big problem. Youth is too. Yet it's hard to look at Baylor, a team that finished 1-11 just two seasons ago, and make any sort of excuse for a program with Texas’ talent to faceplant in this manner. The Longhorns rank seventh in 247Sports Team Talent Composite. The Bears rank 35th. This is a coaching and development issue. It’s evident when Texas has 104 penalty yards. It’s evident when Texas punts on fourth-and-5 from Baylor’s 44 in the first quarter of a tie game but goes for it on fourth-and-3 from Baylor’s 39 facing an 11-point third-quarter deficit. It’s evident when you watch Texas’ offense continually run the same quarterback power and zone-read rushing plays from the same formation. It's evident when defenders miss tackles and miss their run fits. 

This was the year the Longhorns were supposed to take a step forward. Instead, they’ve fallen flat. A long offseason full of critical decisions awaits Tom Herman.

[B00M 6,743]

9 hours ago, orangebird said:

This.  I took the wife wine-tasting, and then went to IKEA and bought a new chair for my home office.  I feel like the day was infinitely more productive and enjoyable than if I had stayed home and watched {football}.

This was either comedy genius or really sad

[Loco 3,754]

I think this guy is a much better than average analyst .. but usually focuses on the Gata so I was surprised when this came up in my twitter feed

 

[Goredho 17,665]

7 hours ago, D_Goose said:

Absurd and dangerous, you say?

What a tepid reaction by the players to their coach trying to fire them up.  

TH:  I WANT TO SEE YOU MURDER SOMEONE OUT THERE TODAY!!

Team:  Sure, coach... whatever you say.

TH:  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!

Team: Ok, coach, try to calm down, ok?  You seem a little stressed.

TH:  RARGHHHHH!!!  *head butts closest player*

Team:  Uh, coach?  Are you ok?  Don’t do that again.  Maybe you want to talk to someone, like, uh, a therapist or something.  Anyway, see you on the sideline...

 

[Goredho 17,665]

10 hours ago, orangebird said:

This.  I took the wife wine-tasting, and then went to IKEA and bought a new chair for my home office.  I feel like the day was infinitely more productive and enjoyable than if I had stayed home and watched the shit Mensa trotted out onto the field for three hours today.  Didn't miss a goddamn thing.

I’m in the phase of life where I have 3 kids 11 and under into youth sports.  So I only watch maybe OU or a bowl game live.

The past 2 weeks I’ve recorded the games, then intentionally spoilered myself looking at scores on espn.com after kids are fed dinner.  I then delete the recording before watching when I’ve seen the team has shit the bed again.

I don’t know what’s wrong with this team.  I just know that they are not worth my time or emotional investment.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Goredho

[Chuckie Finster 23,113]

What a tepid reaction by the players to their coach trying to fire them up.  
TH:  I WANT TO SEE YOU MURDER SOMEONE OUT THERE TODAY!!
Team:  Sure, coach... whatever you say.

TH:  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!

Team: Ok, coach, try to calm down, ok?  You seem a little stressed.

TH:  RARGHHHHH!!!  *head butts closest player*
Team:  Uh, coach?  Are you ok?  Don’t do that again.  Maybe you want to talk to someone, like, uh, a therapist or something.  Anyway, see you on the sideline...
 

That’s what makes the clip so jarring. If the team had erupted afterwards, then that’s just a coach effectively hyping up his team. But as it is, it’s coach trying too hard to connect to a team that has checked out.

[Goredho 17,665]

5 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

That’s what makes the clip so jarring. If the team had erupted afterwards, then that’s just a coach effectively hyping up his team. But as it is, it’s coach trying too hard to connect to a team that has checked out.

Yeah, it’s like a dead marriage where the husband comes home with roses and the wife just throws them in the trash.  Maybe he can get the team believing again in the off season, but that looks like the end with everything after it being a struggle against inevitability.

[Bateshorn 9,993]

9 hours ago, DanTheHorn said:

I see this post from someone after every loss. They do not care but yet they are here posting after a loss letting us know they do not care. The day I stop caring about Texas football I will be like I am on the basketball board. Gone except for the occasional end of year fire X coach post so that I can start to care again. Since I do want to care like I use too. I use to love the Cowboys like I do my Longhorns but now I only watch when I have FFL players on their team and I am still in the hunt. So get out of here with these statements. 

I mean, did I grab my phone and check the score right before dinner? Yup, saw we were getting our shit pushed in, and put it away.  Surfed the carnage here for a bit before bed, but that’s not investment.  It’s just rubbernecking. 
 

 

[DaysOff 8,248]

40 minutes ago, Goredho said:

I’m in the phase of life where I have 3 kids 11 and under into youth sports.  So I only watch maybe OU or a bowl game live.

The past 2 weeks I’ve recorded the games, then intentionally spoilered myself looking at scores on espn.com after kids are fed dinner.  I then delete the recording before watching when I’ve seen the team has shit the bed again.

I don’t know what’s wrong with this team.  I just know that they are not worth my time or emotional investment.

I've been doing that for years. 4 hour bad football is just too long. I was checking the game thread for the lulz whilst working out and hanging lights yesterday. Delete, it never happened. So much better for my anger issues.

[El Hornarino 378]

12 hours ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

Herman is safe because his buyout, plus the probable buyout for his replacement would be prohibitive. I guess they could just let the South Endzone project left undone for a year to pick up the tab. 

I agree, we need competent coaching more than the South Endzone.  Make it so.

[Thiefery 5,113]

Ikea shopping? Wine tasting? I watch the games because we only get 12-13 games for a full year. As much as the game sucked yesterday it was good to see Overshown flying around hitting people. Ossai yelling at everyone.. That's all I got 

[satyanash 15,778]

(Kaelen Jones) Coming to a head: Frustration grows as loss at Baylor reminds Texas, Tom Herman what they’re missing

Quote

WACO, Texas — Tom Herman seemingly pulled out all the stops. He called Saturday’s trip to No. 14 Baylor a character game. During warmups, he head-butted senior defensive lineman Malcolm Roach’s helmet in an attempt to fire up Texas. But when the Longhorns shuffled off the field Saturday night at McLane Stadium, they could only watch the Bears players celebrate achieving the very goal they’d set out for themselves at the beginning of the season.

Baylor, after its 24-10 win, is headed to the Big 12 title game. Texas, meanwhile, is headed home on I-35 South amid growing questions about the direction of the program under its third-year head coach.

The Longhorns are left to face the reality that despite last season’s 10 wins and Sugar Bowl victory, the program is not close to recapturing its status as a national championship contender, nor re-established among the Big 12 elite. They have now gone 10 consecutive seasons without winning a Big 12 championship. They have lost at least four games a season in the same span. It will take a victory Friday in their final regular-season game against Texas Tech to ensure they avoid going .500. “When you’re not playing to the standards that we have set,” Herman said, “you’re gonna be frustrated.”

Despite the previous week’s letdown at Iowa State, UT, by its estimation, had refocused and was ready to face Baylor (10-1, 7-1), which is experiencing a remarkable turnaround under third-year coach Matt Rhule. But the fire from the pregame — Herman said he knew UT had to play physical and that he’d head-butted players at his previous stops at Ohio State and Houston — didn’t carry over into a largely flat performance.

“It was very shocking,” senior safety Brandon Jones said. “Just because of how we prepared as a team and what we knew coming in.” Saturday’s latest gut-punch is serving as a stark reminder that Texas hasn’t lived up to the great expectations that had it ranked 10th entering the season. “There’s a lot of emotions,” junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger said. “Certainly didn’t expect it to be this way.”

“It’s a feeling that I’ll never get used to,” Roach added. “It’s a feeling that this team will never get used to at all. We will never get comfortable with this feeling at all. That’s one thing, why it eats you up every time you have this feeling. It’s not comfortable. It’s not something you want. We put in so much work (during) winter, summer, for 12 (games) guaranteed. For 12 of these guaranteed. When you win them, you’re on top of the world. When you lose them, you feel like you hit rock bottom because you put in so much work every day. That’s the reason you feel like this after every loss, because you put so much into it. And when it doesn’t go your way, it’s hard to swallow.”

Perhaps just as frustrating, UT is more or less squandering its best quarterback play since Colt McCoy through the late 2000s. Ehlinger looked on the verge of a special season during the early part of the year, but during the past four weeks, he hasn’t. That manifested throughout the Longhorn offense’s performances through the second half of the season. It did so again Saturday night, as Baylor held UT to 3 points until junior tailback Daniel Young’s 4-yard scoring run with 1 second left, which saved the Longhorns from not scoring a touchdown in a game for the first time since the 2016 season.

The Longhorns defense kept the game at least within reach even if it didn’t feel like it, finding ways to hold quarterback Charlie Brewer and Baylor’s offense to three touchdowns. However, UT’s offense didn’t breach the Bears 30-yard line until there were four minutes left. Herman, the former offensive coordinator who helped Ohio State win a national championship in 2014, could only watch as his offense for the second consecutive week appeared hapless.

The passing game was thwarted by Baylor’s defensive scheme, often dropping eight defenders in coverage while rushing three down defenders. It limited the Longhorns to producing a season-low 200 total passing yards while suffering five sacks. “It’s pretty frustrating,” senior receiver Devin Duvernay said. “We’re just looking to try to bounce back and get things going. Failing to do that made it frustrating.”

UT players and coaches have sworn throughout the season that when they play at their best, it’s good enough to win. Throughout the early stages of the year, that appeared true. But since losing Oct. 26 at TCU, the Longhorns offense hasn’t looked the same. Texas has dropped three of the last four games. Asked for his thoughts on fans questioning Herman’s offense, Ehlinger said it wasn’t his position to comment. “I have full trust, love and confidence in every single coach that’s at the University of Texas,” he said. “That’s completely out of my realm.”

Herman faced questions about how his staff has performed, too. “I’ve done a poor job and the buck stops with me,” Herman said. “So we’ll evaluate everything. We’ve got a game in six days. I’m not gonna comment on anything like that until after (the Texas Tech) game.”

The Longhorns have $20 million worth of reasons to not buy out Herman, whose contract stipulates a $5 million termination fee for each year remaining on his contract, which lasts through December 2023. However, offensive coordinator Tim Beck (March 2020) and defensive coordinator Todd Orlando (March 2021) could be considered expendable with UT failing to play a high level of complementary football. It will be up to Herman to fix what has become another disappointing year.

Still, Herman pointed to the fight displayed late in the contest, when the game was out of reach and players continued to compete. “I think the last two drives,” Herman said, “on both sides of the football — to stop a quarterback run on fourth down on defense to knowing that you’re not going to win a game, but for the offense to go execute the way that it did — they’re not quitters.”

That resolve will be tested once again Friday. UT will host Texas Tech in a matchup that serves mostly as a chance to maintain whatever is left of its pride and to at least pause the growing frustrations. As the Longhorns on Saturday left Waco, they can only hope to turn things around the way Baylor has. “We wish Baylor the best in the conference championship,” Herman said. “They’ve got a special season, you can tell, with a lot of chemistry on that team.”

Perhaps the Longhorns can say the same of themselves in the near future. Until then, they’ll pick over all that’s gone wrong during the course of what began as a promising season.

 

[Fozzz 152]

Who cares about the stupid head butt?  I want to know why our offense has inexplicably gotten worse over the course of the season.  I can understand the defense shitting the bed, but the offense has no excuse to go dormant just as the defense begins to come around. Reminds me of the end of Charlie's tenure when as soon as the offense began to turn around the defense began shitting the bed.  

[GreenspointTexas 10,016]

If you couldnt tell we had a shit offense this time last year, i dunno what to tell u. 
 

it was crystal clear this offense (Smash spread) wasnt gonna work last year

LJH and Ehlinger singlehandedly got Texas to the sugar bowl last year

 

 

need to fucking run the spread/air raid like every high school in Texas already does

[victory88 5,785]

4 minutes ago, Fozzz said:

Who cares about the stupid head butt?  I want to know why our offense has inexplicably gotten worse over the course of the season.  I can understand the defense shitting the bed, but the offense has no excuse to go dormant just as the defense begins to come around. Reminds me of the end of Charlie's tenure when as soon as the offense began to turn around the defense began shitting the bed.  

We are terrible at self scouting.  Apparently the coaches have been told by GAs that teams know what our play calls are based on our formations. Apparently Herman’s binder says this is not a big deal unless you’re running it greater than 90% of the time (our statistic is something like 72%).  I kid you not.... 

We’ve got a coach that thinks he can follow a binder and he will win games.  His staff is comprised of assistant coaches that tell him his game plan is great.  Then he is shocked when teams stop our plays before they even start.  How many 3 and out have we had the last few games?

Lastly, the last two games, we have run the same failed 3rd down play on 4th down with the same results.  Our coach has no answers.... 

[bschoolprof 6,353]

11 minutes ago, victory88 said:

We are terrible at self scouting.  Apparently the coaches have been told by GAs that teams know what our play calls are based on our formations. Apparently Herman’s binder says this is not a big deal unless you’re running it greater than 90% of the time (our statistic is something like 72%).  I kid you not.... 

We’ve got a coach that thinks he can follow a binder and he will win games.  His staff is comprised of assistant coaches that tell him his game plan is great.  Then he is shocked when teams stop our plays before they even start.  How many 3 and out have we had the last few games?

Lastly, the last two games, we have run the same failed 3rd down play on 4th down with the same results.  Our coach has no answers.... 

In the post game PC, Herman said we made great adjustments to the run game this week, and the players just didn't execute.  We schemed it up to be "hat on hat."  

I think the game has already passed his offense by.  

[MrBig 5,712]

1 hour ago, Chuckie Finster said:

That’s what makes the clip so jarring. If the team had erupted afterwards, then that’s just a coach effectively hyping up his team. But as it is, it’s coach trying too hard to connect to a team that has checked out.

Did you see Sam in the clip? He looked at Herman and leaned back like wtf are you doing. 

[C-Man 27,885]

14 hours ago, Fozzz said:

I think the defense will take a big step forward next season with the experience they have accrued this season. We will also have a senior Ehlinger behind an experienced offense line. We probably won’t win the big 12 but they should win at least 8 games.
 

Remember in August when every one on this board was convinced this team would win at least 9-10 games?  

Winning 8 constitutes a "good season"? Good lord. This year's team sucks and should have 8 wins minimum right now.

[stork642 4,511]

5 minutes ago, MrBig said:

Did you see Sam in the clip? He looked at Herman and leaned back like wtf are you doing. 

That head butt isn’t good for the hair plugs.  He must really mean business.  

[satyanash 15,778]

(Scipio Tex) Baylor Postmortem: Offense & Defense

Quote

This is a consolidated post-mortem because: 1) the holidays 2) we've got Tech on Friday 3) repeatedly pointing out the same uncorrected errors gets old 4) it's folly breaking down individual player performance when it's clear that they're not being coached or prepared adequately. The players are not blameless, but if you believe they are being coached at the most fundamental levels of the game, there's not much more I can show you to get you on my page.

Texas leads the Big 12 in missed tackles, sacks allowed, and penalties. That's a useful short hand for bad coaching. If there was a statistic for blown coverages, offensive game plans that looked like they were the result of a Friday evening cram session, and NATSE's (No Attempt To Set Edge), I'm pretty confident in our showing there as well. The failure to establish a base identity or core competency on defense until the 2nd quarter of KSU and an offense that has degraded any week it has seen even reasonable talent combined with adequate game planning is telling. It's also apparent that our opponent scouting is lacking at best.

This is a weak staff. As pure teachers of the game, one of the weakest I can recall at Texas. Some of them may have knowledge, but can't impart it due to the structure of the program. Some are simple yes-men with zero value add being kept on staff with idiotic resource allocations. Some have seemingly little interest in degrading themselves to teaching the basics of the game when there are intricate useless blitzes to be drawn up.

That Herman and Rhule both began at their respective programs at the same time is useful information. Particularly when one acknowledges that Rhule swam against a much stronger current with a Briles undertow that probably would have drowned a lot of coaches early. Yet the contrast between the two teams is striking with respect to fundamentals, scheme, player program buy-in, and on-field intelligence.

If you had to take a wild guess - after watching yet another Baylor form tackle, multiple Bear players swarming the football on defense, or another decisive Brewer throw to a receiver running the correct route off of a pre-snap read - which staff do you think spends more time actually teaching football? Which staff spends more time screaming MAH CULCHARRR!! and strutting around?

Offense

The first five possessions of the game were punts. That shouldn't surprise anyone given that Texas went 4 of 15 on money downs throughout the game. That first half punt streak was broken by an exceptional individual play by Keaontay Ingram, who ran 68 yards with seconds left before halftime behind good blocking where he exhibited good patience and burst. Throughout the game, Texas proved incapable of running offense without an outstanding individual effort.

The passing game plan wasn't. In the running game, beyond the obvious need to run Sam Ehlinger if we were going to try to run from spread alignments, I'm not sure I saw the excellent game plan that Tom Herman mused about in the postgame presser. Instead of using Ehlinger as a constraint or as an opportunistic punisher, Texas fell into bad habits of using him as the default hammer or as a scramble option for a passing offense that can't scheme anyone into space. Ehlinger's running gained yards, but it wasn't tied in to a larger plan that Texas could leverage into bigger opportunities.

Baylor DE James Lynch added two more sacks to bring his season total to 10.5. Texas started true freshman TE Jared Wiley and made sure to have him isolated in pass protection on the best DL in the Big 12, the 290 pound Lynch, on a couple of plays. Surprisingly, a guy that played HS QB last year didn't hold up well as Lynch rag dolled him and then Ehlinger. He wasn't the only Longhorn blocker that struggled. He was just the dumbest example of our protection call.

Baylor also had success blitzing linebackers on their way to five sacks and constant harassment of #11, but as the game wore on, they realized they could still get pressure rushing only 3 or 4. The Texas OL has played unrecognizably bad football of late and in no way resembles the promising unit that we saw early in the season. OL and QB play are helped immensely by creative offensive coordination that introduces doubt to individual defenders, much less their larger scheme. We inject defenders with certainty. Parker Braun's 2nd half loss of composure was telling and somehow the Texas brain trust deciding that he should be ejected from the game when the ref only wanted him sit out a play is even more telling. Sideline or sideshow? It's hard to tell sometimes.

Sam Ehlinger began pressing and his late INT was awful, but his frustration is understandable. The Longhorn offense is as simplistic as it is erratic when you take away our first options. Watching some of our receiver route combos against Baylor coverage was a punishment in a circle of Dante's Hell. Baylor got terrific pressure on Ehlinger throughout the game and Texas wide receivers not named Duvernay seemed content to run patterns towards coverage rather than green.

When Baylor began dropping eight and getting decent pressure with three, things got ugly. Sam is a good college QB in a bad system with subpar coaching. His trust level for Tom Herman must be something like a negative integer right now. His box score was an awful 22 of 37 for 200 yards and an interception. He ran gamely (when you take out sacks, he went over 100 yards at nearly 7 yards per carry) but a lot of that running felt like empty calories.

Defense

While the first half saw a fairly game effort limiting the Bears to 7 points, helped by an opportunistic turnover forced by Jamison on a wide open Chris Platt, three consecutive Baylor scoring drives (TD, TD, FG) to begin the second half erased any doubt as to whether Orlando had some tactical epiphany or which staff would make second half adjustments. Baylor scored those 17 points to put the game out of reach on 26 plays totaling 207 yards at just under 8 yards per play.

Had Brewer not gotten concussed, they would have scored on any possession they wanted to in the second half. The staff disparity in halftime adjustments was that obvious. From a game planning perspective, Charlie Brewer had evidenced a bad shoulder which prevented him from throwing to the far or outside hash in previous games. Even if Texas didn't buy that coming in, it was clear as the game progressed that Brewer was struggling to make big boy arm throws outside of the far hash. Brewer certainly didn't have a touch problem. He had a long ball velocity problem.

Instead of clogging the middle of the field with bodies and rolling coverage to Mims, Texas gave up single looks outside on intermediate pre-snap read balls that Brewer can drop all day. Orlando also schemed up another open slant TD in the middle of the field when his safeties vacated on a goal line look. That's the fourth of the year, by my count. The easiest throw in football is directly in front of the QB. Especially in the red zone when the field compresses. When Brewer wasn't passing effectively downfield to Mims (7 catches, 125 yards, 1 TD), he was an effective scrambler against the Texas blitz.

Per standard practice, Texas was totally lacking in fundamentals holding the edge or providing containment. While 24 points surrendered may be heartening for some looking for silver linings, Baylor averaged 6.1 yards per play, only ran 64 plays total, and was content to run clock on their last three possessions. They scored as many points as they needed after making halftime adjustments, lost their QB, and then laid up. If you're pleased about what the D did in that game, you probably pumped your fist and screamed,"Texas is BACK!" when Daniel Young scored with 0:01 on the clock to make it 24-10.

From an individual standpoint, some guys played hard - particularly Overshown before his injury - but a lack of spirit was definitely observable in the 2nd half.

Final

Tom Herman likes to say that winning is hard. Really, Tom? Then I consider our staff and realize he has a point.

Edited November 24, 2019 by satyanash

[Thiefery 5,113]

43 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

In the post game PC, Herman said we made great adjustments to the run game this week, and the players just didn't execute.  We schemed it up to be "hat on hat."  

I think the game has already passed his offense by.  

did he really say that? WTF...

[victory88 5,785]

3 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

did he really say that? WTF...

Yes he did....  he also keeps throwing the players under the bus by saying they can’t execute.  When questioned about his staff, he got upset and said the buck stops with him and he will not comment on coaches until the season is over.  But he has no problem throwing the players under the bus.  Hard to stop a defense when they know where the play is going....

[Thiefery 5,113]

Just now, victory88 said:

Yes he did....  he also keeps throwing the players under the bus by saying they can’t execute.  When questioned about his staff, he got upset and said the buck stops with him and he will not comment on coaches until the season is over.  But he has no problem throwing the players under the bus.  Hard to stop a defense when they know where the play is going....

Monday's presser should be fun..  I don't know why i didn't believe it.. he was saying the same shit after the ISU loss last week too. 

[satyanash 15,778]

Bobby Burton: Sunday

Quote

Entering the Baylor game, there was little question that Texas coach Tom Herman needed to make some staff changes this off-season. But after Saturday’s demoralizing defeat at the hands of Baylor, the appropriate question has now changed considerably. Is it merely staff changes that need to be made, or is a change at the top of the totem pole necessary? That’s how bad this loss to Baylor was.

The Horns’ offense could never get going. It was simply more of the same that we’ve seen in weeks past. And truth be told, outside of the win against Kansas and the one-score loss to LSU, the offense has underperformed all season long. They tend to look like a racehorse that wallows in the mud around the track instead of a sprinter that gallops down the track on a rain-free afternoon.

Yet the Horns have a head coach who is supposed to be offensive oriented. He’s supposed to score points and win games. So this lack of performance just doesn’t smell right, not yesterday and not all year long. It’s nothing like yesterday’s OU-TCU game where the Sooners mustered just 28 points. In that game, the Sooners left 14 points on the board with turnovers deep in TCU territory. Likewise, OU also scored 30 unanswered in the second half against this same Baylor team a week ago.

Yes, the same Baylor defense that didn’t give up a TD to the Horns until the game’s final tick on the clock. It’s past the point of pathetic. It’s downright absurd. And it’s on the head coach. Herman said as much in the post game. But talk is cheap. What’s more, it’s not like the pieces weren’t in place for this to be a successful offensive squad for the Horns. Sam Ehlinger is a third-year starter. Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay returned. The OL was expected to be the best the Horns have sported in a decade.

Yet here we are. The Horns are at 6-5, not because of its sometimes porous defense. The Horns are 6-5 because the offense is brutally bad. And that’s on the head coach, whose scheme has not evolved, whose play-calling has been sketchy at best and, perhaps most importantly, whose feel for his players and their strengths and weaknesses relative to opponents have been massively misguided.

Chris Del Conte knows this doesn’t smell right, too. And he now has a different question to contemplate and a different level of decision to make. Good luck, Chris. Texas fans will be watching, and expecting something a heckuva lot better than what we’ve witnessed this season. Yesterday’s performance was just that bad and that emblematic of the program as a whole.

 

[Ricky Butler 2,809]

2 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

I mean, did I grab my phone and check the score right before dinner? Yup, saw we were getting our shit pushed in, and put it away.  Surfed the carnage here for a bit before bed, but that’s not investment.  It’s just rubbernecking. 
 

 

 

[Captain Ron 13,139]

28 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

did he really say that? WTF...

He said it at the 1:50 mark here.

https://youtu.be/SYbflC47ifY?t=110

You need to crank it up to hear the question, but the next minute plus is his answer.

[orangebird 1,147]

3 hours ago, B00M said:

This was either comedy genius or really sad

I'm gonna go with the latter here, chief.  I'm not sure I would actually call what took place between Texas and Baylor yesterday "football."

[orangebird 1,147]

2 hours ago, Thiefery said:

Ikea shopping? Wine tasting? I watch the games because we only get 12-13 games for a full year. As much as the game sucked yesterday it was good to see Overshown flying around hitting people. Ossai yelling at everyone.. That's all I got 

LOL.  It was either that or lose my shit yelling at Mensa for four hours yet again yesterday for all of his stupid bullshit coaching and play calling.  And honestly, he's not worth risking a stroke or heart attack over.  I applaud those of you who can stomach this bullshit without losing it.

[GabrielsHorn 2,249]

Seems like a lot of the $9.95 are directly or indirectly saying that Herman should be fired. 

[Red Five 41,814]

The BBs are back in the box! We all fucking hate Tom Herman! I’ve never seen the Texas fanbase so united.

[Red Five 41,814]

Dp

 

[satyanash 15,778]

(Bobby Burton) Texas-Baylor Grades: A Texas-sized failure

Quote

WACO, Texas — Sam Ehlinger was determined to get Texas into the end zone. The touchdown wasn’t going to make a difference in the bottom line other than making a loss to No. 14-ranked Baylor look cosmetically better with a 24-10 margin of defeat only preventing the most lopsided loss in the Tom Herman era. Nevertheless, Ehlinger engineering a 5-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard Daniel Young touchdown run with one second remaining in regulation accomplished the intended goal.

"I'll never give up,” Ehlinger said after the loss. “I'll never quit. When my team has the ball I'm going to do everything in my power to put the ball in the end zone." The offense’s only touchdown of the game reflected another forgettable performance. The effort was there, but the intent and execution were so bad that it didn’t matter in the end. Let’s get to the grades for a side of the ball that has completely spiraled downward as the season draws to a close.

Quarterback

Nothing worked in the passing game. Nothing. Either Ehlinger was under pressure and unable to get rid of the ball in time or was scrambling for his life. When he did have time to set his feet and look down the field receivers couldn’t get open (either due to Baylor easily covering the offense’s predictable route concepts or a complete lack of development at that position), didn’t make a play or Ehlinger couldn’t execute the throw.

Ehlinger avoiding a safety by breaking out of a sack and salvaging a bad snap with a completion for positive yards to Malcolm Epps were highlights. So too was the quarterback run game, whether the runs were designed or improvised. With that said, it’s hard to give the quarterback too high of a grade when the overall product is putrid.

Grade: C

***

Running Back

The 68-yard run by Keaontay Ingram was all him. It’s not like the Longhorns rolled Baylor off the ball, but some nice footwork by Ingram allowed him to set the squad up for their only points until the garbage-time touchdown. The running game concepts have failed to evolve, leading Ingram and Roschon Johnson to fight for yards with the Longhorns losing the numbers advantage in the box on a routine basis.

Whatever yards the backs seem to get lately have been by their own ability to maximize what’s there, much like Ingram’s long run (which, aside from the big gain, the backs ran for a total of 44 yards on 11 carries). I guess you can give the staff credit for finally trying to set up some traditional screen passes, but the execution was so bad that it didn’t matter.

Grade: C+

***

Wide Receiver

The horizontal offense is alive and flourishing about as well as it typically has on the Forty Acres. Devin Duvernay had a 29-yard reception for the longest gain the passing game produced, but his nine other receptions netted only 49 yards. Along with a route tree that doesn’t have many branches on it, this group continues to suffer from dropped passes, poor perimeter blocking and the inability to create separation. Duvernay’s effort is the only thing keeping the group’s grade from being worse.

Grade: D-

***

Tight End

I commend Jared Wiley for his effort for being put in a position he shouldn’t have been in. Rather than going with 10 personnel and trying to spread Baylor out, the Longhorns once again insisted on using a tight end and tried in vain to see if Wiley or Reese Leitao can do what Andrew Beck did last season. That didn’t happen, but I fault the staff more for not knowing their personnel rather than the players for doing what they’re being coached to do.

Grade: Incomplete

***

Offensive Line

Texas got punked along the line of scrimmage. Period. Five sacks surrendered gives Texas the Big 12 lead with 32 allowed and that’s only touching the tip of the iceberg when trying to break down how bad this group has been the last two games and how much they’ve regressed as the season has progressed. The coaches are still searching for answers when fronts utilize movement to neutralize Herb Hand’s double-team intensive blocking schemes.

The unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Parker Braun, Derek Kerstetter, and Zach Shackelford should embarrass anyone invested in the program. Those are things bad teams do when they’re getting their tails kicked, which is what happened to the offensive line for the vast majority of four quarters of play on Saturday.

Grade: F

***

Offense Overall

One sequence sums up where things are on this side of the ball. On third-and-3 from the Baylor 39 in the third quarter, Ehlinger fired a ball down the sideline for Brennan Eagles, who failed to reel in the contested catch. What did the Longhorns do on fourth down? They ran the exact same play that failed to work one play earlier and Ehlinger’s pass was too low for Eagles to even try to make a play.

It’s the kind of stuff you do when you’re getting beat your buddy in a video game and you have no answers. That’s exactly what the offensive staff has right now. The offense has regressed back to what it was in 2017. Unless Ehlinger is making off-schedule plays, the Longhorns don’t have a whole lot going for themselves otherwise. Texas isn’t even running an offense right now.

The offense is just running plays, throwing things at the wall to see what will stick when they’re not slamming their head against a wall trying to impose their will on the opponent. No matter how much heart the Longhorns show, that dog won’t hunt. Outside of a few outstanding individual efforts to make plays, the entire product on the side of the ball where Herman made his mark was an unmitigated disaster in a high-stakes game.

Grade: F

************************************************************

WACO, Texas — Did Malcolm Roach receiving a head-butt from Tom Herman prior to Saturday’s 24-10 loss to No. 14-ranked Baylor serve its purpose? Did Roach having his head coach slam his noggin into his helmet fire the Longhorns up? “Never question how ready we are to go out there and play a game,” Roach said after the game. “We're always fired up because we know it's the next opportunity to go out there and represent the school and we try to do that to the best of our ability. Unfortunately, it just didn't go our way.”

The defense has been served a deserved helping of criticism throughout the season. With that said, whether it’s getting healthy players back on the field, Todd Orlando continuing a trend of increased success when facing offenses that utilize bigger personnel and have fewer Air Raid roots, legitimate improvement or some combination of those factors, the defense played well enough Saturday to give Texas a chance to win. While the offense’s pungent odor stunk up McLane Stadium, the grades from the Baylor game reflect a defense that did what it could as long as it could to keep the Longhorns afloat.

***

Defensive Line

Baylor and Iowa State have shown those who are down on the concept of a three-man line that the philosophy itself isn’t a problem. For Texas, the problem is that Orlando choosing to play his ends in 4i shades is problematic when teams utilize heavier personnel, overload one side of the formation and the defense does nothing to adjust.

The ends got washed down on Baylor’s first-half touchdown drive due to the Longhorns simply losing the battle in the numbers game along the line of scrimmage. No matter how much effort and passion are on display (Roach, by the way, has enough floating through his veins for everyone on scholarship to get a shot of juice), a lot of the line’s issues can be traced back to scheme/philosophy issues. This group has too much talent to have had such a minimal playmaking impact throughout the season and again on Saturday.

Grade: C

***

Linebacker

Lost in the toxic soup of an overall forgettable performance by the Longhorns is Ayodele Adeoye playing what felt like his best game for the program (five tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss). With Juwan Mitchell out of the mix, the defense had to rely on Adeoye and Jeffrey McCulloch inside to open the game with Orlando eventually moving Joseph Ossai inside to stem the tide from the damage Charlie Brewer was doing to the Longhorns in the running game (18 carries, 75 yards and a touchdown).

Ossai had a game-high eight tackles, but the inability to fully weaponize one of the true difference makers Orlando has in the defensive front is going to be one of the biggest misses on the defensive side of the ball when the dust settles.

Grade: B-

***

Secondary

DeMarvion Overshown made plays all over the field and is proving himself to be an impact player. Hopefully, his ankle injury doesn’t force him to miss the final two games of a season where he’s had to spend more time in the training room than he’d have preferred. The penalties are what’s going to stand out at cornerback, but such is life when those guys are left on an island to fend for themselves.

D’Shawn Jamison had a forced fumble that likely kept Baylor from getting points on the game’s opening drive and Jalen Green battled admirably all day while trying to handle Denzel Mims by himself for most of the afternoon. The back end is different when Chris Brown and Caden Sterns are healthy. There were still lapses, but the defensive backs are a big reason why the Longhorns hung around as long as they did.

Grade: B

***

Defense Overall

It’s hard to complain too much about the first half. Other than the Baylor touchdown drive where the defense had to defend a short field, 72 of the 203 total yards the Bears had at halftime came on two plays (a 44-yard strike from Brewer to Chris Platt that ended with Jamison forcing a fumble Chris Brown recovered and a 28-yard touchdown run by John Lovett where poor leverage and tackling came back to bite Texas).

Eventually, however, the dam broke. Penalties aided Baylor’s two second-half touchdown drives and the Longhorns just couldn’t make plays when they needed to at critical times.

There are still issues the defense has when it comes to structural integrity, self-scouting, and game-planning. Nevertheless, the performance on Saturday was good enough to win had the offense done anything to help.

Grade: B-

***

Special Teams

The bad: There remains nothing resembling a punt return game (the offense’s average starting field position when Baylor punted was the Texas 19 with three drives for the Longhorns starting inside their own 6-yard line). Chris Naggar’s worst punt of the day (a 19-yard shank off the side of his foot) put the defense on a short field. The good: Cameron Dicker nailed his only attempt on the day from 48 yards out and didn’t allow Baylor to return his lone kickoff of the day that mattered. Other than the bad punt, four of Naggar’s other punts landed inside the Baylor 20 and he hit a 51-yarder, proving himself to be a tremendous replacement for the injured Ryan Bujcevski.

Overall, the Longhorns didn’t do anything in the kicking game to hurt themselves outside of the bad field position, which is par for the course this season. It was a nice change of pace from what the previous 10 games by and large produced in the third phase.

Grade: B

 

[Newy25 7,955]

I love where the program is except on the field? So he likes our uniforms and fight songs? 

[Nueces River Rat 5,821]

3 hours ago, GabrielsHorn said:

Seems like a lot of the $9.95 are directly or indirectly saying that Herman should be fired. 

When establishment Fuck You Chip Brown looks like he agrees with the majority of the $9.95 crowd,  it’s safe to say we have a problem. 

[TwiceHorn 32,156]

1 hour ago, tjhooker said:

Everyone needs stop with this Dabo comparison because it is the exception to the rule. Where there is 1 of him and 100s of examples the other way. It's just a stupid comparison. The Strong comparison is 99% likely. 

Well, making bad assistant hires is forgivable if one acts quickly to rectify the situation.  Not so much if you double-down on them and act like a superior asshole to anyone who questions the hires in the face of evidence that they do, in fact, suck.

And it's not just a matter of forgiveness.  Failure to act quickly shows a lack of judgment that is inconsistent with the job requirements.  You can learn, but you better learn quick.  And with some humility.

Edited November 24, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[Nueces River Rat 5,821]

19 hours ago, Fozzz said:

I think the defense will take a big step forward next season with the experience they have accrued this season. We will also have a senior Ehlinger behind an experienced offense line. We probably won’t win the big 12 but they should win at least 8 games.
 

Remember in August when every one on this board was convinced this team would win at least 9-10 games?  

We should have won our ninth game yesterday.  Mensa and his sidekick Orlan-o created  this shit storm which caused us to lose at least four of the games  which would have made that ninth victory possible. 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Nueces River Rat

[bschoolprof 6,353]

4 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

He said it at the 1:50 mark here.

https://youtu.be/SYbflC47ifY?t=110

You need to crank it up to hear the question, but the next minute plus is his answer.

Notice how at first he tried to directly blame the players.  Then realizing, how that was going to play out, he corrected himself to say that they as coaches didn't get the players ready to execute their wonder scheme properly.  

 

His first response revealed his true thoughts though.  

[taybo20 3,054]

5 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Notice how at first he tried to directly blame the players.  Then realizing, how that was going to play out, he corrected himself to say that they as coaches didn't get the players ready to execute their wonder scheme properly.  

 

His first response revealed his true thoughts though.  

It also reveals what a fucking idiot he really is. 

[Burt Macklin 19,230]

9 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Notice how at first he tried to directly blame the players.  Then realizing, how that was going to play out, he corrected himself to say that they as coaches didn't get the players ready to execute their wonder scheme properly.  

 

His first response revealed his true thoughts though.  

Yep. He’s a narcissistic piece of shit. I wouldn’t hang around if I were one of the players with other good options. 
 

Firing him would actually be viable if not for that idiotic extension last year. Instead, shit’s gonna get a lot uglier over the next year. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2,781]

So are Beaty and Fedora not providing any type of scouting or analysis on opposing teams?

[FloridaHorn 4,897]

15 hours ago, D_Goose said:

Absurd and dangerous, you say?

I wish he would have been ejected for targeting. We might of had a chance.

[TwiceHorn 32,156]

Just now, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

So are Beaty and Fedora not providing any type of scouting or analysis on opposing teams?

One would have to think they would be, but maybe that's why they weren't particularly successful coaches.  Nonetheless, I am guessing that whatever info they are providing is being ignored by the brain trust.

You have to kind of wonder if running the special ed offense against the special ed defense is giving a false sense of security in the tweaks and adjustments.

[LTtxfan 50,040]

11 minutes ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

So are Beaty and Fedora not providing any type of scouting or analysis on opposing teams?

Thought Beaty is not involved at Texas due to his ongoing lawsuit with his Kansas contract??